Metabolic Analysis of a wearable upper Limb Exoskeleton for overhead work

Abstract

Work related musculoskeletal injuries are a major cause of reduced productivity in the industrial sector. Longterm overhead work may lead to severe injury of the shoulders and has been recognized as a major cause of workdays lost [1]. As many modern production lines still require workers to perform long-term overhead tasks, wearable support devices were recently developed with the aim to mitigate the stress on the shoulders, preserve workers healthiness and ultimately increase productivity. The modern designs proposed are currently object of extensive research aimed to assess the impact on the worker, changes in posture, ergonomics and overall effectiveness [2]. The aim of this work was to test the effects on user’s metabolic expenditure of an upper limb exoskeleton recently designed by the authors for supporting overhead tasks.